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<title>Pious Brother; To Your Vices by LuciusIII</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23353147">Pious Brother; To Your Vices</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciusIII/pseuds/LuciusIII'>LuciusIII</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Adventure Zone (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Corona - Freeform, Multichaptered, Other, Quarantine, Quarantined Together, Short Chapters, This will definitely lead to uhhh, Your favourite sk8r boy and your favorite crime lad, gays in a small apartment</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:07:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,554</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23353147</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciusIII/pseuds/LuciusIII</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jake and Hollis are quarantined together; Hollis turns to stealing to feed the homeless, and Jake disagrees. Will they make up? (yes) Will they become gay together? (also yes)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jake Coolice/Hollis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Didn't mean to make you mad</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Four paper bags, filled to the brim, fell on the table with a thud. Jake looked up from his finger skateboard, which he kept grinding on various attributes while doing so, and saw that the bags were filled with groceries.</p><p>“What’s all that, Hol? We don’t need that much food, Leo said on the news that his store won’t close down.” Leo was, in fact, doing the opposite of closing: he was working overtime and ordering more stock than he had in years. The corona quarantine had hit Kepler, and his store was one of three businesses in town that was still fully operational.</p><p>“Food’s not for us. It’s for the homeless. Will you help me package it?” Hollis smiled, but they sounded serious.</p><p>“Hol, that’s a lot of food to just give away… Can we afford that?” The two of them had been living together for a while now and while they were not (officially) in a relationship, they shared a budget for food and other expenses. Now that quarantine had struck, the two of them hadn’t seen anyone else in three days. Hollis closed their eyes and sighed.</p><p>“No, we can’t. That’s why we didn’t pay for this food.” Jake furrowed his eyebrows and looked confused. “Walmart Incorporated did.” A grin crept over their face.</p><p>“Dude, did you steal this? That’s not okay” Jake had left the Hornets once when Hollis had gotten on the illegal side of things with the group activities, and now that they had reunited, he was on his guard to see his friend return to illegality.</p><p>“It is okay, actually. People need food and Walmart has food.” Jake had stood up from the couch and raised his voice slightly.</p><p>“Hollis, stealing is a crime”</p><p>“People are dying in the streets every day, Jake. I’m not losing sleep over helping them.” Hollis’ voice was calm and almost monotone; their frustration with Jake’s reaction was audible, but they had a unique way of expressing it. They never yelled or raised their voice out of anger: a loud Hollis is a happy one, Keith had said once.</p><p>“Stealing hurts people, Hollis. Would you steal from Leo?” Hollis scoffed.</p><p>“No, Jake, I wouldn’t. Leo’s different.”</p><p>“How? Stealing is stealing.” Hollis turned to him, putting the food he was stacking in rations around the table down.</p><p>“If the store’s a chain, then stealing’s fair game.” Hollis said to a jingle, smirking.</p><p>“I can’t believe you. Just get it out of the house quickly, Hol. God.” Jake turned back to the coffee table where his miniature skating rink was set up, grabbed his phone and headed to his room. In the living room, Hollis was putting rations in bags.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. I don't like when you're upset</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I have 20 full packs and 5 blankets, we’ll hit the streets tonight.” Hollis’ voice was stern and quick. Keppler was a radio quiet zone, so all communication by phone had to go through landlines, and the Hornets had no trust that those lines were completely untapped: all below-table Hornet business was discussed quickly and vaguely when face-to-face meetups were not possible. “Be at the spot with the stuff at nine, inform the others.” They were sat on the couch with their notes in front of them: supplies the Hornets had gathered, places they had distributed those supplies and neighborhoods that were still in need of a visit. All written down in shorthand, unintelligible to anyone but Hollis themselves.</p><p>The Hornet on the other end of the line hummed in agreement. He started to ask a question when Hollis interrupted him. “No details by phone, dude. You know the ropes.” A laugh and another question followed.</p><p>“Oh, my bad, I didn’t realize what you were asking.” The tension now gone from their voice, they started to walk around the living room, circling the coffee table for lack of more space. Hollis checked over their shoulder and saw that Jake’s door was closed. “I’m fine, thanks for asking. Little bit of trouble in my domestic paradise, but it’s fine, really.” Another question came from the phone.</p><p>“It’s Jake, he’s not cool with what we’re doing. He’s a bit less radical than we are, you know?” More laughing and a witty answer from the Hornet.</p><p>“Oh, shut it, I didn’t choose to like him, okay? If we all had a choice in who we crushed on it’d be a different world. You wouldn’t have a boyfriend in that world, dipshit.” Hollis snickered. The days were tense, and now that Jake was not in the mood to make jokes with them, the Hornets were a welcome relief. The Hornet answered with a laugh and another question.</p><p>“No, I’m not telling him! He’s mad at me, so I think I’ll save my brave confession for another day.” They laughed a little. “Tell you what,” they continued, “I’ll make you a deal: you tell our favorite darling Owens what the gang gets up to on Saturdays, and I’ll tell Jake my little secret.” They grinned into their phone and looked out the window of the small apartment.</p><p>“Tell me what?” Jake’s voice cut through the air. Hollis spun around on their heel, the phone still at their ear. Jake stood in the doorway of his room, staring at his roommate.</p><p>“I’ll see you tonight.” They ended the call and shoved their phone in their back pocket.</p><p>“Tell me what, Hollis?” Jake’s face was stone, without a hint of his usual glee, in a way Hollis had never seen before.</p><p>Hollis wanted to tell him the truth; that they had grown madly in love with him over the past years, that seeing Jake leave the Hornets had broken their heart, that rekindling their friendship had saved Hollis many teary-eyed nights. They wanted to tell him every part of their feelings for him, from the moment Jake had taken off his helmet, revealing his tired face on the slopes one day, to the almost unquenchable need they had felt to be with him in more ways than even good friends were. They wanted to tell him everything – but they couldn’t.</p><p>“Nothing, Jake. Hornet stuff.”</p><p>“Fine, don’t tell me then. Have fun at nine.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Off we go</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was just a few minutes before nine p.m. when Hollis approached the old town square on their bike. The engine growled its deep rumble as Hollis steered towards the alleyway between Jameson’s Discount Furniture and the Kepler post office. Hid away from the street lights, leaning against the walls of the alley, were the more politically inclined Hornets. Each of the four of them had a large bag filled with food, clothing and other supplies to be distributed. Behind them stood their bikes.</p><p>As Hollis approached, they lifted their visor and recognized their group: Pigeon was there, as were Keith, Tim and Bevan. Keith, the Hornet with which Hollis had spoken earlier, had his arm around Tim’s shoulder. Pigeon and Bevan both kept a good distance away, six feet in fact, keeping with social distancing regulations. They all wore masks as well, but this was part of the Hornet’s usual getup when out on the town with criminal intent.</p><p>“Y’all ready to roll out?” Hollis bounced their right fist just underneath his left clavicle twice and saw the sitting crew return the gesture. Hollis’s voice was slightly muffled by the mask they wore, but the rest seemed to understand them.</p><p>“Yeah, let’s go. Where we headed first?” Keith strapped his duffel to his back and got on his bike. They had all managed to steal and otherwise procure water, food, clothes, and other essentials for the people sleeping rough in Kepler.</p><p>“We’re hitting old town, behind the church. Josie and her folk live around those parts these days.” Josie was a homeless woman who lived on the streets of Kepler during the warmer months of the year, and hitchhiked south every autumn to avoid the deathly nights outside in her hometown. She was a good friend to the Hornets, and often relied on them for food and clothing. In return, she gave them the wisdom of her long life and the location of any person down on their luck in Kepler. She was, as Hollis often put it, the eyes and ears of the streets of Kepler. If anyone else needed help, Josie would know.</p><p>“It’ll be good to see Josie again; it’s been a long winter without her,” Tim remarked. It had been a few hard months since Josie had been in town, and the Hornets were in need of some friends; the sheriff had been cracking down on their nightly expedition. Although he hadn’t made any arrests, the Hornets had felt limited in their abilities. Josie would be able to help, she always was.</p><p>“I hope she’s healthy. Did any of you get anything medical?” Hollis looked over their shoulder as they turned their bike back to the opening of the alley and got ready to ride. Bevan answered:</p><p>“I have Tylenol, bandages, cough syrup and some Vapo-rub. Might be good for her joints. We’ll see when we find her.” Hollis nodded and closed the visor on their helmet. The Hornets revved their engines and pushed off. As the five of them rolled out of the square and into the streets, the resident of the apartment above the post office picked up their phone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! I know it's short, I'll try to update it soon!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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